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There was a Supreme
Court directive which banned traditional bull racing festival Jallikattu in
Tamilnadu. Today, as I write this, women groups are storming into a small
temple in obscure town in Maharashtra. Media is in overdrive. Times Now seeks
the rationale behind why women aren’t allowed in Sanctum Santorum of the
temple. Yesterday they covered a Member of Parliament, sworn to the same
constitution we celebrate today, who urged people to vote for their party, else
they will lose their right to eat beef, which he posited, is a way of life for
Muslims and Dalits. The rationale of it? Well, nobody would ask that. The same
tribe which fights for the well-being of the animal also fights for converting
the same animal into their dinner. But no, we don’t have it in us even to
question such inept political positioning. Left, always
boastful of being atheist, jumps in gleefully. The people who have no faith in
religion, step in to modernize the religion. I am not much of a religious
person…

I recently in The
Paris Review came across an interesting quote by great poet, by Robert Graves (1895-985). He says, “Never
use the word “audience.” The very idea of a public, unless a poet is writing
for money, seems wrong to me. Poets don't have an “audience”: They're talking
to a single person all the time…... All the so-called great artists were trying
to talk to too many people. In a way, they were talking to nobody.” I posted it on
Google+, seeking the views of people. I got responses, some usual +1, I’d take
it that they liked and agreed with the statement. But a dear friend, and
wonderful poet Sum James, wrote that
the words which are written for audience and is not something of an ante-thesis
of poetry, as is seemingly contended here. It runs along. I would however,
agree that the term audience here could be misleading. Every poem, I would
agree with Sum James, is intended to an audience. Therein lies the reason for
disagreement. Poems are not
scalar. Poems are vector, …

The year has just past by. Another year, another life, another sigh, another teardrop for the giant eye of the time.

Many things can happen in an year. Lives can change- a country's life, an individual's life. How does one day differ from another? Does the tide turn, the Earth revolves in another direction? It is a psychological peg we devise to measure our journey. To measure how far we have traversed from where we started. Did we travel farther than others that we measure against? It sounds such narrow-minded to measure ourselves against others around us, but what other way do we have? This competition make us going, while in our heart of heart we know it will all end into nothing- cipher, a zero and only solace we will have, will be an unproven promise of afterlife. But as spaces around us reduce, shoulders rub against one another, we barely breathe, we sigh, long sighs, as if they would some day grow so big to swallow our whole lives. We need friends, camaraderie, non-comp…